The invention concerns a device allowing fluids to be dispensed from a container in metered quantities. It is particularly applicable and useful for dispensing soap solutions.
Prior-art devices designed for this purpose suffer from a number of drawbacks. Devices of the kind indicated must be able to meet strict demands on hygiene and functional safety. Soap solutions of the kind generally used have certain qualities which make them unsuitable for use together with fluid-dispensing devices designed for fluids having other properties than the soap solutions. For instance, the dispensing device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,220,611 is quite unsuitable for dispensing soap solutions. This prior-art device is equipped with a discharge valve made from an elastic material and has a conically tapering shape. The outlet opening is formed as a slot extending across the jacket face of the cone. The soap solution remaining in the outlet opening or immediately internally thereof between uses will oxidize since it will come into contact with the surrounding air. As a result, a plug will form which obstructs the outlet opening and makes further dispensing impossible.
The purpose of the subject invention is to provide a dispensing device which meets the demands set forth above without suffering from the drawbacks of prior-art dispensers and which in addition is easy and cheap to manufacture, easy to assemble and mount as well as to maintain and which is highly reliable.